Flavius Areobindus (died 449) was a general of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

origin, who became commander in chief of the East.

Biography

Areobindus was a Goth who became part of the political class of the Eastern Roman Empire; his son Dagalaifus was consul in 461, his grandson

Areobindus Dagalaifus Areobindus Flavius Areobindus Dagalaifus Areobindus ( grc-gre, Ἀρεόβινδος; 479–512) was an Eastern Roman general and politician. The scion of a distinguished line, he led troops in the Anastasian War, and served as consul in 506. During an urba ...

held the consulate in 506. He took part in the war of 422 against the Sasanids of king

Bahram V Bahram V (also spelled Wahram V or Warahran V; pal, 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭), also known as Bahram Gor (New Persian: , "Bahram the onager") was the Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') from 420 to 438. The son of the incumbent Sasanian shah ...

, with the rank of '' comes foederatorum'', or commander of the contingent of barbarians fighting as allies in the

Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...

. On that occasion Areobindus defeated one of the Sasanids, Ardazanes, in a duel (''

mard o mard ''Mard ō mard'' (Middle Persian; literally "man to man") was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian tradition of single combat, the Sasanian Empire being most known for using it. During a battle, the Sasanian troops would use taunts and war cries to ...

''), and, following his victory, the peace was concluded.Malalas, ''Chronographia'', 364; Cedrenus, ''Historiarum Compendius'', 599. The duel is reported also by Socrates Scholasticus (''Historia Ecclesiastica'', 771), who, however, does not support the idea that the duel ended the war. In 434 Areobindus was chosen by the Eastern court as consul along with

Aspar Flavius Ardabur Aspar (Greek: Άσπαρ, fl. 400471) was an Eastern Roman patrician and ''magister militum'' ("master of soldiers") of Alanic-Gothic descent. As the general of a Germanic army in Roman service, Aspar exerted great influence on ...

. In the same year he was appointed ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

per Orientem'' (perhaps ''praesentialis''), a position he held until his death. In 441 he was chosen by

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''Augustus (title), augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after ...

as one of the commanders of the expedition against the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

in Africa; the expedition was not successful because its leaders wasted time in Sicily. In 443 he was sent along with other generals against

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...

, but he was defeated by the king of the Huns. In 447 he received the title of '' patricius'', but by the year of his death Areobindus had fallen into disfavor with Theodosius II. Areobindus was the recipient of two letters of

Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus ( grc-gre, Θεοδώρητος Κύρρου; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pivo ...

Cyrrhus Cyrrhus (; el, Κύρρος ''Kyrrhos'') is a city in ancient Syria founded by Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals. Other names for the city include Coricium, Corice, Hagioupolis, Nebi Huri ( ar, نبي هوري), and Khoros ...

, which show that he had lands in that city, among others attested in

Euphratensis Euphratensis (Latin for " Euphratean"; grc-gre, Εὑφρατησία, ''Euphratēsía''), fully Augusta Euphratensis, was a late Roman and then Byzantine province in Syrian region, part of the Byzantine Diocese of the East. History Sometime be ...

Notes

Bibliography

* Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, ''

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

'', "Fl. Ariobindus 2", volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1992, , pp. 145–146. {{authority control 449 deaths 5th-century Byzantine people 5th-century Romans of Gothic descent 5th-century Roman consuls Comites Correspondents of Theodoret Gothic warriors Imperial Roman consuls Magistri militum Patricii People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Year of birth unknown